Alastair Cook has warned his England team that they must improve on last Friday's performance in Rajkot if they are to go 2-0 up in the five-match series in Kochi on Tuesday.

Cook celebrated jubilantly with his players on the outfield at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium after they had claimed a first one-day win away to India since 2006, but a more considered reflection on the game has left England convinced they underperformed in several areas.

"It was a great start to the series for us, but now we have to move on as a side," said the captain. "We can't keep talking about it – we're going to need the same standard of performance, if not slightly higher. We're going to have to up our skills. We've played one game – let's not get carried away."

England's most obvious area of weakness would seem to have been their pace bowling, as Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Jade Dernbach all proved expensive. However Cook sprang to the defence of Finn and Dernbach, in particular.

"On that wicket, it was an incredibly hard place for them to bowl," he added. "With only two men out and a really quick outfield, there was no margin for error. I thought the way those two held their nerve if they got hit for four, put it straight back to bed and came back was really good."

England felt they should have posted a higher total than 325 after Cook and Ian Bell had provided such a good start with their highest-ever opening partnership in an ODI in India.

Cook confirmed that Joe Root and Samit Patel will retain their places because of the extra spinning options they offer, and stressed the need for flexibility both in England's batting order and their bowling attack.

India's captain MS Dhoni sent Gautam Gambhir to face the press, perhaps to avoid further tricky questions over his own future. Gambhir predicted a slightly lower-scoring game because the outfield in Kochi is not as quick as the Rajkot billiard table, and would not be drawn on whether India are considering changes.

There has been growing pressure for Cheteshwar Pujara, their batting star in the Test series before Christmas, to be introduced, but that is still thought to be unlikely. Gambhir also came to the defence of Ishant Sharma, India's pace spearhead who conceded 86 in his 10 overs in the first game despite bowling two maidens.